CineKink Las Vegas 2011
CineKink Las Vegas 2011 Report Las Vegas recently hosted its second CineKink film festival, here's a rundown of who and what came to town this year
Following up on 2010’s initial foray into Sin City, CineKink recently returned to the City That Never Stops Gambling to again showcase a healthy variety of sex and sexuality to a city that trades on lust among other vices. Setting up shop in the newly-opened Theatre7 (last year’s screenings projected within the S&M tinged Onyx Theatre), CineKink founder Lisa Vandever regaled the intimate crowds with the sexy fest’s signature mix of theme-oriented shorts programs as well as a pair of award-winning features selected from previous events. Personally, the shorts are where one got their money’s worth in terms of quality and quantity. The Vegas exhibition list broke down into three separate programs: Pride & Predilections, Lust, Love, Life, Adventures in the Sex Trade, and finally the standard yet still-enjoyable Best of CineKink 2011.
Kicking things off, Pride & Predilections provided a warm ease into the erotic for curious patrons as the series’ focused primarily on matters of sexual identity and preference. As such, the implicit tone of these shorts was more homosexually-themed via selections like Chained (a brief but engagingly informative essay on the identity politics surrounding wallet chains in the lesbian community) to a expertly-produced and shot farce simply titled Gaykeith. The highlight award though goes to the simply produced Love, Hugs, and Kisses, Sissy Stephanie (also included in the Best of series). A cinematic ode to long-time CineKink supporter and New York personality Sissy Stephanie, the 12 minute short celebrates the life of its titular character. A long-time music teacher, now retired, Stephanie is an elderly man who embraces the lifestyle of being a full-time submissive and indulging in his preferences via immaculate French maid costumes and ball bells in public. Unapologetic yet warm, Stephanie (whose birth name we are never informed of) lives his/her life in relative peace, despite acknowledging the struggles that his lifestyle engendered for his deceased wife and family. Thankfully though, the film does not dwell on darkness but rather shines a light on a man, who has the courage to live as he truly wishes and enjoy the incredibly acceptance of the public at large.
The second series, Lust, Love, Life, was perhaps the weakest collection overall since the program’s bulk stood as mere preview to Swedish director Erika Lust’s gorgeously, produced triptych of sex in Barcelona Lust, Love, Life. Bathed in bold, bright color and featuring a slew of impossibly, gorgeous Spanish men and women, the trilogy showcases Lust as a sort of female, heterosexual Almodovar, pushing the limits of stylistic excess to near commercial parody but never ignoring the sensuality her actors effortlessly generate. Watching these three films was perhaps the hottest highlight of the entire festival, akin to an Agent Provocateur ad campaign but with fucking. Special notice goes out though to Wiggle Room directed by CineKink alumni Jessica King and Julie Keck. Further refining their signature stew of clever comedy mixed with sublime kink, these two filmmakers put many wannabe-mumblecore hipsters slumming it in Brooklyn to shame. They deserve far more attention and will hopefully receive it in time as their work clearly warrants it.
Adventures in the Skin Trade proved to be more confrontational, while still offering sex-positive comedies like Man with the Bolex Camera and 52 Takes of the Same Thing. Then Boobs. However, selections like The Cowboy directed by alt-porn director/artist Vena Virago and transgender porn superstar Buck Angel’s Bucking The System prove more confrontational, segueing viewers from relatively safe, transgressions to worlds they may otherwise be unaware of or worried about. Virago’s 7-minute short illustrates the highly-developed degree of ritual that the BDSM community operates within, respected by both Dommes and Subs. A 1950’s black and white, lesbian bondage film (more Betty Page than Lady Heather) unspools on screen as busty nymphets playfully spank one another while an unnamed, female narrator (Virago herself one supposes) discusses her former life as a New York City dominatrix and her most memorable client, The Cowboy. Delivered in an unsettling, electronically-generated monotone, the narrator discusses in detail her work routine and preferences as well as her client’s exacting attention to the scenario they engaged in time and again. The near-religious devotion to detail and consistency speaks to the ritualistic aspect of this world, engaging the brain as much as the body.
Bucking The System clearly emerged as the most confrontational piece with a fairly simplistic, splicing of various interviews conducted with Angel himself, alongside a variety of hardcore sex scenes that would challenge even the most jaded, desensitized porn connoisseur. Watching Angel, a former model who underwent sex reassignment surgery sans genital adjustment, market himself simply as “a man with a pussy” generates significant, cognitive dissonance as those statements are followed by scene after scene of this bald, butch man being penetrated in nearly, ever way imaginable, including an oral sex scene that is frankly more brutal than erotic. Some viewers walked out of the screening and, to be fair, that is a great sign. A fest like CineKink needs films that will push viewers to, and often, past their breaking points and Angel’s documentary succeeded.
The Best of Cinekink 2011 provided a great, overall synopsis of the themes and tonal shifts that the movies selected explore, from light comedies such as Piss and Turning Japanese to my personal favorite (perhaps of the entire festival) Cactus. A 30-minute exploration of one woman’s rape fantasy and the emotional tumult it generates on everyone swept up by it, Cactus is a carefully considered, technically polished tale that digs deep into the dark impulses that desire can foster without flinching. Moreover, a genuine love story emerges as the main character, who hires a local gigolo to finally enact her dream scenario, receives more than she bargains for as fantasy becomes reality. Verging on late 90s Michael Haneke territory, Cactus proved to be evocative and confrontational, without pronouncing judgment.
The final festival selections, Indietro and Kink Crusaders, were honored as the only features in Vegas this time out. Directed by Vivian Darkbloom, Indietro comes off in essence as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with kink. Produced by Kink Studios, the feature utilizes noted adult performers Madison Young and Aurora Snow, in this tale of two couples, one innocent, the other decadent, engaging in a deep spiral of sexual deviancy that strips away all artifice and reveals everyone’s inner desires, motivations, and character. The reverse chronology device is oddly reminiscent of Harold Pinter’s play Betrayal, which also uses time as a means to slowly breakdown its characters.
The sole documentary feature, Kink Crusaders, directed by Michael Skiff provides a sometimes dry but intriguing examination of the annual International Mr. Leather contest, as a means of investigating both the leather subculture in gay society but also leather itself as a metaphor of masculinity. Featuring a variety of aspiring participants and past winners, Skiff weaves together a loving web of individuals who come together across sexual boundaries to celebrate themselves as men first and foremost. Leather itself is merely the signifier. All things considered, CineKink Vegas 2011 was certainly a success in terms of growing its audience while simultaneously challenging and educating it.
To learn more about the festival and upcoming screenings, go to www.cinekink.com
